The invention relates to a removable mechanism for attachment to a hand-held endless loop belt sander. More particularly, the invention relates to a removable mechanism for providing a substantially flat sanding area when pressure is applied to the sanding belt between rollers. The object of the invention is to provide a removable mechanism which allows an endless loop belt sander to be used for sanding both planar and non-planar surfaces, for example in automotive repair work. The invention is useful in numerous other applications, but is particularly useful when it is desired to sand both planar and non-planar surfaces with the same belt sander.
The removable mechanism of the present invention includes a belt-backing plate biased toward the inside surface of the sanding belt. The belt-backing plate is movably connected to a slidable attachment structure, which facilitates easy attachment to and removal from a belt sander. Bias means are provided between the attachment structure and the belt-backing plate to urge the plate toward the inside surface of the belt .